One of the fiercest races in next month’s midterm elections has turned ugly, with the Nevada senator Harry Reid accusing his Republican challenger, Sharron Angle, of encouraging a TV advert that tries to persuade Hispanics not to vote.

The Spanish-language ad was pulled from TV stations yesterday following an outcry. It said: “Don’t vote this November. This is the only way to send them a clear message – you can no longer take us for granted.”

Angle’s camp denied any connection to the ad, saying she encouraged as many Nevadans as possible to vote. The ad was placed by Robert de Posoda, president of Latinos for Reform.

At a debate in California which was broadcast in Spanish, Candidate Meg Whitman accused her opponent, Jerry Brown, of releasing the story about the undocumented housekeeper she had fired. Brown said that, if she won’t take responsibility for her actions, she shouldn’t be governor.

It’s a rule even political veterans sometimes forget, but that rookie candidate Meg Whitman may be about to learn a hard lesson on: damaging revelations are much less damaging than a bungled response.

It doesn’t get much more California than this story: a former Silicon Valley CEO running for governor is in hot water over allegations involving an illegal immigrant brought forward by a Hollywood lawyer. Whitman, the Republican candidate, is struggling to answer allegations that lawyer to the B-list stars Gloria Allred leveled against her on Thursday. Allred represents Nicandra Diaz Santillan, an illegal immigrant who worked as a housekeeper for Whitman and her husband, Griff Harsh; Diaz was fired after confessing that she didn’t have papers, but she now alleges that a letter from the Social Security Administration in 2003 should have tipped Whitman off. In essence, she’s accusing Whitman of knowingly employing an illegal immigrant.